Diversity Effects in Grassland Ecosystems of Europe

Détails concernant le projet

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CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Objectif

DEGREE aims at investigating the modifications in the diversity of soil biota in typical European grassland ecosystems under climatic change, and the functional impact of these modifications on plant nutrient availability. Six research sites have been chosen corresponding to a classification of the six major European grassland ecosystem types: (i) tundra, (ii) heath, (iii) steppe, (iv) wet grassland, (v) seminatural temperate grassland, and (vi) mediterranean garigue (phrygana). The investigations will focus on a particular subsystem of the soil ecosystem, which consists of three major compartments: (1) freeliving soil nematodes (grazers of the microflora), (2) microflora (remineralisation, immobilisation of C and N), and (3) N availability for plants (target

DEGREE (Diversity Effects in GRassland Ecosystems of Europe) aims at investigating the modifications in the diversity of soil biota in typical European grassland ecosystems under climatic change, and the functional impact of these modifications on plant nutrient availability. The chosen grassland types represent substantial areas of natural and seminatural land in Europe. The research sites match with two of the TERI transects. DEGREE will focus on a particular subsystem of the soil ecosystem, which consists of three major compartments: (1) freeliving soil nematodes (grazers of the microflora), (2) microflora (remineralisation, immobilisation of C and N), and (3) N availability for plants (target parameter). The rationale of DEGREE is to produce data that allow for upscaling in space, for extrapolation in time, and for the analysis of system dynamics in response to gradual climatic change. To achieve this, the proposed investigations will systematically cover European and landscape spatial scales, as well as longterm and shortterm temporal scales. Three structural levels of diversity will be evaluated: (1) genetic diversity,(2) morphological diversity, and (3) functional diversity. Effects of graded intensities of climatic change will be investigated by exploiting natural environmental heterogeneity. The project will encompass field transplantation experiments, manipulative microcosm experiments, and theoretical work. The major workpackages correspond to the following issues: - Parallelised field transplantation experiments in each of the research sites - Biogeographical analysis of existing field censuses - Quantification of process parameters and flux budgets - Identification of functional limits in the tolerance to climatic change of the investigated system Parameter values of the investigated process dynamics will be worked up to be incorporable into models of whole ecosystems. The benefit of DEGREE will be a better understanding and predicting of the way in which biological diversity in soil regulates ecosystem function, and how this will be altered under global change. KEYWORDS (max 10):Diversity, Function, Grassland, Climate Change The rationale of DEGREE is to produce data that allow for upscaling in space, for extrapolation in time, and for the analysis of system dynamics in response to gradual climatic change. To achieve this, the proposed investigations will systematically cover European and landscape spatial scales, as well as longterm and shortterm temporal scales. Three structural levels of diversity will be evaluated: (1) genetic diversity,(2) morphological diversity, and (3) functional diversity. Effects of graded intensities of climatic change will be investigated by exploiting natural environmental heterogeneity. The project will encompass field transplantation experiments, manipulative microcosm experiments, and theoretical work. The major workpackages correspond to the following issues: - Parallelised field transplantation experiments in each of the research sites - Biogeographical analysis of existing field censuses - Quantification of process parameters and flux budgets - Identification of functional limits in the tolerance to climatic change of the investigated system Parameter values of the investigated process dynamics will be worked up to be incorporable into models of whole ecosystems. The benefit of DEGREE will be a better understanding and predicting of the way in which biological diversity in soil regulates ecosystem function, and how this will be altered under global change.